E M-REASON 12 - Bits

Institution:

Harvard University

Subject:

Description:

How can vast quantities of information-movies, text, voices, etc.-be moved instantaneously from place to place, reproduced in unlimited perfect copies, stored forever, and searched to discover needles in haystacks, all at virtually no cost? The secret life of "bits"-the zeroes and ones of which all digital documents and communications are comprised. We develop the mathematics of digital information using only high school algebra, and explore the human consequences of those digital principles: how they challenge our understanding of secrecy, privacy, security, free speech, and property, and pose dilemmas for free societies.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.harvard.edu

Phone Number:

(617) 495-1000

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Semester

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